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Aviation History
1921
1921 - 0193.PDF
MARCH 17, WHETHER the Egyptians want Mr. Winston Churchill or not, due air homage was done to his great Hatship on arrival (with five hat-boxes amongst his impedimenta) by an escort of a flight of aeroplanes-nithree Bristol fighters and three H.Ps. THAT was a fantastic peep of " H.H.'s " into the future of aerial warfare in the Daily Mail recently. An " air-ram " having a steel prow with which to ram its opponent, and wings which, as well as the propellers, fold into the body when the machine swoops down on its prey. Being inside a projectile and fired out of a gun seems almost tame in com- parison. What we specially like is the notion of steering this " bolt from the blue," with wings tucked away inside the hull, "to a hair's breadth." The pilot, "in a well- protected cockpit " (he would need it), might find some difficulty in keeping quite such a good course as that. In fact, without wings one does not see how he is going to keep any course at all except that assigned to him by our old enemy gravity. However, it is a cheerful thing to contemplate, and as the " bolt " is said to be designed for an engine of 3,000 h.p. there does not appear to be any immediate danger. ANOTHER pleasant little prospect for future frightfulness is foreshadowed in the news to hand from New York of the discovery of that liquid poison by an officer of the U.S. Chemical Warfare Service, which, it is claimed, is so strong that three drops will kill anybody whose skin it touches. In its practical application it is suggested that, falling like rain from nozzles attached to an aeroplane, the poison would kill practically every one in the area over which the aircraft passed. One machine carrying two tons of liquid could cover an area 100 ft. wide and seven miles long. According to the officer, the only limit to the quantity of the poison that could be made is the amount of electric power available. Nearly every nation, it is declared, possesses practically an unlimited supply of the necessary raw materials. Yes, really quite pleasant to look forward to. SIR ROSS SMITH, in his most entertaining " Travelogue " at the Philharmonic Hall, tells an amusing episode from the famous flight to Australia. On alighting at one of the stopping-places in the East, the natives were found to exhibit a most unusual timidity, and seemed afraid of approaching the Vimy. For a time their behaviour mystified the aviators, until an English resident solved the riddle. He and some of his friends had played a joke on the unsuspecting natives, telling them that a huge bird was going to fly over from the other side of the world, and would carry God on its back, earring with him the devil as a prisoner. After a con- siderable time the natives ventured closer, probibly, Sir Ross assumed, to find out who was who. He was, *e said, quite certain in his own mind on this point, but his brother Keith entirely disagreed. ANOTHER little point made in Sir Ross' many rich items is in regard to the letters " G.E.A.O.U." which the Vimy bore, all of which have their official significance, but which were rendered by those taking part in the big adventure as meaning, " God 'elp all of us." How an impromptu reply first gave the idea to Sir Ross Smith to attempt the Australian flight is set out in the following item from his " Travelogue " :— " Brigadier-General A. E. Borton visited the first Australian Squadron in Palestine, and invited me to join him on a flight to Mesopotamia. After reaching Bagdad, he jocularly remarked, ' We will fly on to India, to see the Viceroy's Cup run.' " I replied, ' Why not then fly on to Australia and have a look at the Melbourne Cup ? ' I little thought then I should ever attempt such a journey." JERUSALEM THE GOLDEN apparently is associated with the evolution of aviation. According to Mr. Percy E. T. Sargent when lecturing before the British-Israel-World Federation at Caxton Hall the other day, " three prophecies were fulfilled at one time by the British occupation of Jerusalem." He was advocating the belief of the Society that the British are the descendants of Israel, and described how the Turks, after being driven from the Holy City without a shot being fired, took up a position later with the object of recapturing it. But British aeroplanes went up and drove them from their stronghold, so fulfilling the first of the Biblical prophecies : " As birds flying, so will the Lord of hosts defend Jerusalem, defending also he will deliver it, and, passing over, he will preserve it." THE R.A.F. is quite busy on the Rhine " front " just now The hitherto " no man's land " of the neutral zone is no longer an unknown land. 0000000 Winter in Switzerland : An airscape' of the popular resort, Davos: Note the main road in the centre cleared of snow. OOOO O O O O O O o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o o
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